Soap News: Billy Miller OUT, David Tom IN at Y&R

— With his contract up for renewal and actors being brought in to test for a couple of mystery roles, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Billy Miller is leaving the role of Billy Abbott on The Young and the Restless after five years. While it’s rumoured that Miller was offered more money to stay, he has decided to part ways with the Sony produced soap due to not receiving as many outs as he’d like to pursue other projects.

Instead of casting someone new, there is some good news for fans of the CBS show: David Tom, who first played the SORAS’d teenage Billy from 1999 to 2002 will reclaim the role on February 3 after Miller last airs on January 30.

— Meanwhile, Amelia Heinle (Victoria) has inked a new contract with Y&R.

— Also at Y&R: Soaps in Depth reports that Briana Nicole Henry has been as Summer’s new model friend, Esmerelda.

— Tristan Rogers, whose character Robert Scorpio is finally about to reunite with on-screen daughter Robin, is checking out of General Hospital. Rogers will return to The Young and the Restless this February as Australian mobster Colin Atkinson. The news came as a surprise to GH head writer Ron Carlivati who tweeted that he only had a day to write Robert out of an important February sweeps storyline. Let’s not blame Rogers for leaving, while he was on recurring at GH, he must have left for a contract over at Y&R. Good news for Jill fans, as he’ll be tied to her upcoming storyline.

When I interviewedJess Walton (Jill) back in September, she shared how much she enjoyed working with Rogers and that the Jill & Colin pairing has been her favourite:

I adored the Colin storyline. To me, it was Colin and Jill falling in love with the best sides of each other. He came in when she had just lost Cane and was very needy. He came in to use her and he fell in love with her. He was so kind to her that she fell in love with that good side of him. She was at her lowest and softest. These two characters that were actually rotten human beings in certain areas, neither one of them saw that part of each other. They only saw the good. I thought that was so magically about that.

— Another World star George Reinholt, who played Steve Frame during the immensely popular Alice/Steve/Rachel triangle has passed away at the age of 73.

— Jack Wagner (ex-Frisco, GH; ex-Nick, The Bold and the Beautiful) and Cameron Mathison (ex-Ryan, All My Children) will join Canadian actress Rachel Blanchard (Clueless, 7th Heaven) in Hallmark’s My Gal Sunday, a TV movie based on the novel by Mary Higgins Clark. It will air in the U.S. on January 18 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, if it does well, it could be moved to series.

While everyone in the Spixie vs. Lante custody case are doing a great job, General Hospital has really given great material to let Dominic Zamprogna (Dante) shine.

As for A.J.’s (Sean Kanan) case, Scott (Kin Shriner) mentioned the murder took place on August 23rd, but the security camera footage was dated September 23rd.

Great having Aly (Ashlyn Pearce) aged on The Bold and the Beautiful, hope it means more story for Thorn (Winsor Harmon).

Is this Dylan (Steve Burton) reveal over yet on The Young and the Restless? Or the whole Delia hit and run thing? No? Oh okay.

Get a madwoman (Kristen, Eileen Davidson) to rape a priest (Eric, Greg Vaughan) and then play the sex tape of it at her wedding to his stepbrother (Brady, Eric Martsolf). Genius. Days of our Lives deserves all the praise it can get and it looks like their also getting the ratings to show for it. Greg Vaughan’s been doing some amazing eye-acting work. He’s outcrying Jonathan Jackson. Oh and the Nicole (Arianne Zucker)angst! Forgive him, girl.

What’s coming up:

The Bold and the Beautiful (CBS/CTV Two): Hope and Aly plan ThanksgivingDonna attempts to get Brooke and Katie to reconcile. Hope plays hostess to a combined Thanksgiving dinner and engagement party for Rick and Caroline. Hope and Aly have a hard time deciding who sits with whom during the dinner. Brooke makes a sincere request to Katie that Bill never again interferes in their relationship. Bill asks Wyatt for a big favour. Maya feels out of her element when she’s surrounded by Rick’s family. Viewers wonder if Thorn will be able to leave the Forrester Creations basement to attend Thanksgiving dinner. Note: B&B does not air on Thursday & Friday due to the American holiday.

Coronation Street (CBC): David drowns his sorrows and spends Tina’s moneyRoy encourages Hayley to attend Jane’s funeral. Peter encourages Simon to play with Grace and Faye. Tina becomes annoyed of David’s presence. Eileen hopes that Steve will give Todd a job. David drowns his sorrows in the Rovers. Carla is concerned that she hasn’t found a wedding dress yet. Tina receives a devastating phone call from Tommy. Sean asks Todd to go out for a drink with him. Deidree and Gail watch on in horror as David taunts Peter on the street.

Days of our Lives (NBC/Global): Caroline confronts VictorGabi is horrified to learn what Nick’s done. Sonny leaves after an argument with Will. Caroline confronts Victor over the way he exposed Eric. Brady and EJ argue over Kristen. Kate, Sami and Gabi all receive a shock. Hope comes to EJ with a search warrant. Nicole is stunned when her first TV assignment is to interview Eric. JJ realizes he needs to make things right. Eric finds out how much EJ knew about Kristen. Note: DAYS does not air on Thursday & Friday due to the American holiday.

General Hospital (ABC/City): Will Patrick finally see Robin?Sabrina prepares to walk down the aisle on her wedding day. Rumours about Robin circulate in Port Charles. Ava advises Patrick to call off the wedding. Will Robin & Patrick finally reunite? Note: GH does not air on Thursday & Friday due to the American holiday.

The Young and the Restless (CBS/Global): The Newmans learn about DylanNikki’s shocking confession that Dylan is her secret cult baby sends the Newman family into a tailspin. Sharon ends up coming to Summer’s rescue. Sparks fly between Chelsea and Adam. Katherine bequest continues to trouble Jill. Ashley returns for Thanksgiving.

About Author

Jeevan Brar is a digital content producer and freelance entertainment writer based in Toronto. Jeevan has managed The TV Watercooler since 2008, the Canadian blog has focused on daytime soaps, primetime hits and reality TV guilty pleasures. The blog has also connected Canadian soap fans with exclusive interviews with the cast of enduring daytime dramas The Young and the Restless, Days of our Lives, General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful. 'Like' The TV Watercooler on Facebook. You can also follow Jeevan on Twitter and Google+.